The Commitment (28 page)

“I do,” I whisper, the hitch in his breath barely heard over the gentle sob leaving my chest as I slide his band on his finger.

For a moment, I run the pad of my thumb over his white gold band I’ve placed there before returning my teary eyes to his.

“Then by the power invested in me, it is with great privilege that I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Henry says, causing my favorite wide grin to cover his perfect face as I cover my mouth in shock. “What God has joined, let no man separate.”

“Oh my God, Chase,” I gasp, my joyful tears flowing freely as I hold his teary, blue eyes.

“You may kiss your bride.”

Sophie

“Finally!” he says, causing me to beam.

As “Just One Look” by Doris Troy begins through the speakers, he leans forward and places his strong hand on the back of my neck, gently pulling me to him. When his lips touch mine with gentle force, his tongue slowly dipping into my mouth, I can’t stop the slow hum that leaves my chest. Our first kiss as man and wife is explosive, completely consuming yet somehow making me want more all at once.

In this kiss, I can feel the desperation, the worry, all of the doubt he’s had in his heart just melting away with every stroke of his tongue against mine. I kiss him back just as fiercely, every hardship, every obstacle, every heartbreak either of us has encountered being washed away as he pulls me close. 

As he deepens the kiss, he rests his hand on my waist and my head spins so wildly, the cheers of our guests fade off with the waves. For this moment, it’s just his lips on mine. When he slowly pulls away from me a moment later, he holds my teary gaze, hovering over my lips for a moment.

“I love you, Wife,” he whispers, filling my heart to capacity.

“God, I love you, Husband,” I manage, gripping his suit lapels and pulling him back to my lips as another round of applause echoes around us.

Once I release him, he brushes his thumb across my tearstained cheek and reaches for my hand. As we turn to face our family and friends, our eyes stay locked on each other. Slowly, he leads us back to the house, stopping occasionally for one of us to hug someone, his eyes never leaving mine.

Finally, we make our way to the house and after he ushers me in, pushes the door shut.

“Holy shit, Babe!” I squeal as I spin to face him, finding us wearing the same wide grin. “Chase, we just got married!”

“I know,” he chuckles, making his way over to me and cupping my face in his strong hands, kissing me gently.

As he pulls away from me, he lets out a low sigh and slowly begins to shake his head.

“What?”

“I just… I can’t believe you’re finally mine,” he says, his watery gaze dancing over my face. “Sophie Ryan is finally my wife.”

“Well, not really,” I whisper as I hold his eyes, gently tracing the edge of his jaw, stifling a smile at his confused expression. “Technically, I’m Sophie Mitchell now.”

“Fuck yeah you are, Baby,” he beams, kissing me once more before we hear the door slide open behind him.

“Sorry to interrupt…” Drake starts.

“Then go away,” Chase cuts him off as he smiles against my lips. “I’m making out with my wife!”

“Chase,” I laugh, looking around his shoulder to see Drake grinning.

“Before the two of you defile my dining room,” he smirks. “I wanted to come and congratulate you. Also, Analise said the photographer is ready.”

“Ooh kinky,” Chase growls playfully against my neck. “Send him in.”

“Oh my God,” I groan, making them both laugh at my blush.

“What are you blushing for? Everyone knows we got mad skills, Baby,” he teases. “We really should get some of that shit on tape.”

“Yeah, because people don’t already know enough about our sex life,” I chuckle. “A sex tape is exactly what we need.”

Jack

As I stand quietly to the right of the altar, I find the last bit of hope I have of Sophie and I being together again and bury it deep. Watching her walk down the aisle toward someone else is a tough pill to swallow, but as I see the sheer joy in her eyes, I know it’s what I have to do.

I’m not surprised at the lump in my throat as she comes to a slow stop in front of him. The knife twisting in my chest as she makes the ultimate commitment to Chase instead of me doesn’t just sting, it’s downright agony. What does surprise me is when the pastor pronounces them man and wife, I feel relief.

Anyone who’s ever truly had to walk away from the person they love the most will agree with me here. Even if the end result is the absolute last thing you want, there’s a certain freedom in just knowing what the future does or doesn’t hold.

I’ve known for a while that things were never going to be the same between us again. If I’m being honest, I think I knew when I came home on leave after we’d lost the baby that things were different. We’d tried, we were picking up the pieces as best we could and eventually, I know we’d have pulled through, been happy again. Things never would have been the same, though.

Hindsight being what it is, it’s easy to see the places we’d staggered now. What’s not easy is accepting it, especially when it’s not by your own choice. Walking away from someone you love with every bit of your soul isn’t easy, not even when you know it’s what you have to do.

Watching them make their way into the house, my Beautiful Girl the very definition of happiness, I can’t help but smile to myself.

I still love her, that’s never changed and I know now it won’t. There’s no way I could ever stop loving that woman and truth be told, I don’t want to. I’d meant everything I’d said to her that day. Sophie absolutely is a part of my forever and the time I spent belonging to her is something I could never regret. The simple fact of the matter is that our paths are different than what we’d thought.

She’ll always be in my life. It was rough at first, but we’ve found a way to make this work. We had to because we knew it was that or walk away completely, which neither of us is willing to do. A love like ours can’t be destroyed. It can shift, evolve, transform, but it can never cease.

If you’d asked me back at the beginning, that first time I set my eyes on her, I never would have believed that any of this could happen to us. Even if I had, there’s not a chance in hell I’d have walked away from her that day.

If anything, I would have gotten to her faster.

Chase

After the photographer takes what has to be a few hundred shots of us, Sophie and I join our reception. We share our first dance to ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran, quietly singing the lyrics to each other as we keep our eyes trained on the other. Once we’ve properly greeted our guests, we’re finally taking our spot at the table with the wedding party when Ana interrupts us.

“Soph, we have to get ready to cut the cake, Honey.”

“Already?” she asks around her fork, looking down at her full plate. “I just started eating.”

“I know,” she says with a regretful sigh. “I’m sorry, but the caterer is scheduled to leave in an hour and if we want them to cut and serve, we’ve got to do it now.”

“But I’m really hungry,” Sophie says, her voice a desperate plea as she turns to find Ana’s sympathetic expression.

“Take a couple bites, Babe,” I tell her, kissing her temple. “We’ll do the cake fast so you can come back and eat, okay?”

“You know, I read somewhere that lots of brides don’t even get to eat at their receptions,” Heather muses.

“It’s true,” Emily interjects. “Other than the piece
Bradley
smashed in my
face
,” she says irritably, making everyone chuckle, including him. “I didn’t even get any of our wedding cake.”

“You two seem really happy,” Drake smirks at them, causing Emily to uncharacteristically blush as she laughs and flips him off.

“I’m not getting any cake?” Sophie asks, ignoring my sister and cousin.

“Yes, Honey, you’re getting cake. If you come take this picture, you can have the whole freaking thing,” Ana sighs dramatically. “Jeez, you act like I didn’t feed you all day!”

“Oatmeal and trail mix is not eating,” Sophie argues as she pops a bite of chicken in her mouth and begins to stand. “I’m the size of Mount freaking Rushmore, Ana!”

“No, you’re not,” she laughs.

“Well, I’m just saying. I’m not one of those bears at the zoo. You gotta feed me!” she starts before she faces the table. “If they try to clear my plate, use this fork to stab them.”

“You got it,” Charlotte grins.

We make our way to the cake, posing for the photographer to take the traditional shot of us cutting the first piece.

“Oh my God, I can smell the sugar,” she groans under her breath, making me smile. “I’ve been thinking of this cake all day.”

“Don’t you worry, Babygirl,” I chuckle as I lift the small piece into my hand to feed her. “You’re gonna get some cake.”

She sees the mischievous glint in my eye and shakes her head with a smirk.

“Don’t do it, Mitchell,” she warns playfully, backing away slowly. “I’ll take you down in front of your Granny.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I chuckle, closing the distance. “Come here and let me feed you, Baby.”

“Are you gonna be good?”

“Of course,” I grin through the lie, holding her eyes as we cautiously lift our pieces for the camera.

As she gently feeds me, I watch her take a small bite from the cake in my hand. When I hear the click, I twist my wrist and smear the remaining frosting across her cheek. Before I can properly enjoy the hilarious look on her face, she clamps her teeth onto my thumb, pulling a wail from me as she smashes the last of the cake she’s holding into my face.

“Ow!” I laugh, pulling my hand from her. “Jesus, woman! You’re vicious!”

“Serves you right, you rat bastard!” she smiles, licking her fingers clean as our guests watch our exchange in amusement. “Wow,” she giggles as she meets my eyes. “I got you good. You have cake all over your face.”

“It’s okay, Baby,” I chuckle, loving the flash of dimples that accompanies her wide smile as I give her a firm, chaste kiss. When I pull away, we both laugh at the frosting I’ve just put on her lips and chin. “I forgive you.”

“You’re such a jerk,” she beams, playfully swatting me before taking my hand and following me back to the table. I’ve stopped at the bar set up nearby to grab us each a bottle of water when I hear her gasp. “Oh my God!”

“What’s wrong?” I ask her, immediately giving her the once over to make sure she’s not in labor.

“Those bastards took my food,” she groans, filling me with relief.

“Thank God,” I sigh. “You scared the hell out of me, Baby. I thought your water broke.”

“No, but good to know where you’re at,” she smirks before taking her seat.

Looking into the house, the kitchen that’s been completely packed with catering staff moving quickly trying to clean up is empty. Glancing around us, I see around us everyone engaged in conversation.

“Come on,” I say softly, reaching down to take her hand.

“Where are we going?” she asks as I pull her into the house and slide the door behind us. “Oh sweet Lord! Did you bring me in here to have sex?”

“No,” I chuckle, looking down to find her cutting her eyes suspiciously at me. “I mean, we
can
,” I tell her seriously. “But that wasn’t the initial intention.”

“Well, what was then?”

“Food,” I tell her, bending to kiss her hair before leading her toward the kitchen. “My bride is hungry.”

As we make it to the edge of the bar, we find that with everything the caterers brought to prepare tonight, there’s simply no extra space in the kitchen.

“Chase,” she starts. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to get to the pantry. It’s completely blocked off and they’ve already packed everything up. I’ll just wait until we leave.”

“Hush Baby,” I tell her, using my arms to hoist myself up onto the counter, over the equipment blocking us out. “Just give me a second, okay?”

Carefully, I step onto the island and maneuver my way to the refrigerator. When I realize the door is blocked, I cuss under my breath.

“What?” she whispers loudly across the kitchen.

“The door’s blocked,” I tell her with a chuckle. “Why are you whispering?”

“I don’t know,” she laughs, still speaking in hushed tones. “What are we gonna do?”

“There’s a fruit bowl,” I tell her, reaching for an apple. “Catch, Baby.”

“Thank you,” she smiles as it falls into her hands, biting into it and humming with appreciation.

“You’re welcome,” I answer, grabbing another and watching her catch it with one hand. “Good girl,” I say, climbing back over and jumping down in front of her. “I’ll get you something better to eat on the way to the hotel,” I promise as I lift her onto the bar stool.

When she finishes it, she leans up to kiss me, her lips still sweet from the juice.

“Thank you, Baby. That was the best apple I’ve ever eaten in my life,” she smirks before her eyes fall on the second one I tossed her, still untouched. “Here.”

“Nope,” I smile, gazing down at her as I brush a loose tendril away from her face. “Those are for you and Peanut.”

Realizing I won’t relent, we stay as we are in a comfortable silence as she finishes her snack, swinging her legs and humming along with the music outside. As she leans her forehead against my chest and lets out a quiet yawn, I press my lips to her hair. When I inhale her familiar coconut scent, she chuckles against me.

“Did you just sniff me?” she asks, looking up at me in amusement.